a birthday cake
by teddylupin-snape
Summary: The Marauders help James bake a cake for Lily's birthday.


"Oi! Wake up, you two!"

James knocked far too loudly for 8 o' clock in the morning. When he didn't hear a response after a second, he opened the door, letting it hit against the wall before it swung back. Sirius and Remus were in the bed, both starkers, a thin sheet over some of their legs. Sirius grabbed a spare pillow, pressing it over the back of his head in an attempt to muffle the noise James was making. "What the hell, mate?" His voice was muffled, as he laid on his stomach, mouth pressed up against the pillow under his head.

Remus hadn't moved, almost as though he was pretending to still be asleep (Sirius knew he couldn't _actually_ still be asleep. Not after the rude interruption). He was awake enough, however, to snap at James to get the hell out. James sighed dramatically and turned to stand in the hallway of the apartment, right outside Sirius and Remus's now closed door.

"Get up, please? I need your help with something. You have two minutes." Then, in a childishly impatient and excited tone, he added, "Hurry up!"

Sirius groaned loudly as James went off to wake Peter. The four of them decided to get a relatively cheap flat together after leaving Hogwarts. For the most part, it was a nice setup. Or, at least, not too different from the past seven years they'd spent together. But it was mornings like this that made Sirius want to go incognito and move to the Antarctic and never tell anyone where he was. Well, except perhaps Remus.

"We might as well get up," he murmured, kissing Remus softly. "You know he's not gonna let up any time soon, best to get it over with, whatever it is."

Remus grunted in reply, but after a minute, he got up and started looking for his clothes. It was by no means the first time James had seen them naked, and Remus had no doubts that it would be his last. That was just another perk of living with nosy roommates.

It took them a while to get dressed, so distracted as they were by each other. When they finally slumped out to the sitting room, they saw Pete, who looked just as sleepy and annoyed as they did. "Coffee's made." He gestured to the kitchenette and took another sip of his own, willing the caffeine to kick in.

"Cheers," Sirius mumbled, then turned to glare briefly at James, before getting himself a mug.

When everyone was settled, it was Remus who started. "You planning to explain what this is about? Or can I go back to sleep?" He often was grouchy when awoken early, especially so soon after a full moon.

"I need you blokes to help me make a cake."

Sirius made to get up, saying "Yeah, g'night Prongs." James grabbed his wrist and attempted to channel Sirius's best puppy-dog eyes.

"Please? It's Lily's birthday and I want to do something nice, but I'm rubbish at Muggle cooking." His voice was pleading, but Sirius was having none of it.

"If you wanna do something nice, how about letting us sleep 'til a normal time. Why d'you need to do it the Muggle way?"

"Lily swears it tastes better. It takes more effort, she said something about eating love?"

"You can _taste_ the love," Remus corrected. "Fine. Whatever. We're already up," he added, looking at Peter and Sirius. "Might as well."

James grinned, successful, and practically sprinted off to the kitchen, his friends lagging behind.

"Alright!" He pulled out a thick, yellowing book from one of the cupboards. "I have a recipe in here somewhere." The cookbook had belonged to his great-grandmum, and looked like it hadn't been opened since she'd owned it. "Ah, here we go!"

James placed the book on the small stretch of open countertop, then turned sharply to face the other three. His voice took on the tone of a commanding officer. "Pete and Sirius, collect the ingredients. Remus and I'll collect the bowls and mixing things." The four moved around the very cramped little kitchen, fulfilling their given tasks.

The cake-making process went fairly smoothly. Sirius, at one point, confused baking soda and baking powder, and was adamantly insisting that there was no difference. Remus spent a solid five minutes convincing him. While Remus wasn't much good at things like Potions or baking, he had learned enough from his mother, who had made the same mistake enough times for him to remember to this day.

When they had the cake in the oven, they were all covered in more flour than had gone into the cake, and Sirius had managed to crack an egg onto himself (though James had reason to believe that Peter was behind it).

"Now what?" Sirius eventually got into the baking process, and by the time they had finished, he was excited about it and ready to do more.

"Now," Peter said, consulting the book. "We wait."

Sirius groaned, slumping to the floor and staring at the oven. Remus reached over, turning on the light inside it, watching Sirius's face light up as it did. James, Pete, and Remus returned to the sitting room, leaving Sirius to watch. So enthralled he was that he didn't move a millimeter until Remus's timer went off, and the three of them returned to remove the cake from the oven.

Much to Sirius's annoyance, they had to wait even longer for it to cool before it could be iced. Peter then wrote "Happy Birthday Lily" atop it, as he had a skill for writing artfully and legibly.

A couple of hours later, Lily came over. As she knocked at the door, James shooed the others into their respective rooms. He promised to save them each a slice of cake after Lily had seen it. Sirius listened, half-interested, at their own bedroom door. It seemed all their effort had paid off, due to Lily's reaction. After a minute, Sirius heard a muffled "Do you want some?" He opened the door silently, stepping out into the hall, motioning for Remus to follow. They could just barely see Lily, sitting across from James at the table. Turning behind him, Sirius saw Peter had had the same idea. The three of them stood, silently waiting.

James was animatedly recounting their cake-baking experience, but Lily cut him off. "Just a second, James. Come on, you three. Don't think I can't see you. Of course you can come grab a piece." She rolled her eyes at James as they entered. Within moments, the cake was gone.

"So," Sirius asked around a mouthful of cake. "What're we baking tomorrow?"

 **Written for the Marathon Competition (Starting Point: effort)**


End file.
